Teknic Sprint Jacket

[clint640]

Splashed out on a new jacket last weekend, a Teknic Sprint.

My old $300 KBC 'Touring' has had over 3 yrs of hard use & a few crashes & has done pretty well protection wise, though I did replace the dual density foam elbow armour with some hard shell stuff. It was good in the waterproofness dept apart from the fact that the cuffs were too small to easily pull over gloves for when things are really wet, & impossible to pull over my thick winter gloves, So I'd always get wet hands & damp arms. I'll be keeping it for rallys cos you can easily fit 6 cans of beer in the various pockets.

I'd been looking at the Dririder Rallycross jacket that had a removeable inner waterproof liner, as I thought it would be nice to have something that converts to a mesh jacket for summer & those hard-work adventure rides but having all the armour & stuff outside the waterproof bit didn't really turn me on. Then I saw the Sprint advertised in the Kiwi Rider & thought it might be worth a look, It has a waterproof outer that zips off as well as the std removeable thermal liner.

While shopping for an adv bike for Rosie at Underwood & Wilkins in Whakatane I spotted some in stock, and they were on special at $390 instead of $499! Go Underwood & Wilkins!! (they still have a few there I think)

So after much zipping bits on & off & trying the jacket on in it's different configurations I went for one in the bright red with black stripes colour scheme, I usually prefer black but in this instance I decided to reverse the usual rule & say 'It's better to be alive & uncool than dead & cool'

It's definitely a better quality jacket than the KBC, good quality armour & a better fit. Comfortable around the neck & cuffs too. It's very warm, I needed a layer less than usual underneath, the thermal liner is thicker than most. The zip-on high collar works well too. It's quite heavy with all the layers but stripped down to just the mesh jacket it's much lighter.

It comes with a little backpack that clips onto the back, trouble is with the weight of anything more than the thermal liner in it it pulls the collar back against your neck, the wind it would catch in a sportsbike riding position would probably also pull the collar back. It is however the perfect size for a tailpack on the KTM! So it's a gimmick, but not a useless one.

Hopefully I'll find some really shitty weather to ride through in the next few weeks so I can report on it waterproofness. I'm a little worried about where the outer shell zips on, but I haven't felt any draughts coming through so hopefully it lives up to it's 100% waterproof guarantee.

There's a review & pics here:

http://www.webbikeworld.com/r3/teknic/sprint/

Cheers
Clint

[janno]

Great write up, thanks for taking the effort!

I'll be needing a winter jacket soon, another option to consider.

[vifferman]

Good for you, Clint!
Congratulations!

I went for one in the bright red with black stripes colour scheme, I usually prefer black but in this instance I decided to reverse the usual rule & say 'It's better to be alive & uncool than dead & cool's
Clint
D'Oh!

I made the same decision years ago, when I bought the Teknic Hurricane in red'n'black. Unfortunately, the red fades in our strong UV-rich sunlight, and it shows the dirt more than black.
Never again! Plus the vifferbabe won't let me buy another coloured jacket: "You MUST buy black next time!" :nono:

[Pwalo]

I've got one of the older Sprint jackets (blue and balck), and it's been brilliant in the winter.

I can do the cuffs up over my gloves, and with the lining in I can get away with wearing a business shirt on underneath for winter commuting.

Also keeps the water out.

[MD]

They are a good jacket Clint. Like you, when I first used it on a really cold day I found I was overdressed underneath and had to pull over and lose some layers!
I did a non-stop 10 hours riding in torrential rain and eventually the water worked up the sleeves but that was more leakage around the gloves than the jacket's fault. The outside chest pockets also got wet but it was an extreme test and for most of the day they remained dry.
They are a once only crash item. That's why I am on my second one. On the earlier version I had, the armour shoulder & elbow pads came out, but looking at the later version the pads are more secure.
Lots of useful pockets, including the secret bum pouch. As you can see I have the all blue because gixer owners keep telling me blue is faster.
Mark

[clint640]

Well it was raining good this morning so I thought I should test out the new jacket properly & ride to work. I am pleased to report that after 45min at highway speed through steady rain I was still very dry. A little bit of water made it's way down into my gloves but I think if I tuck the cuffs in a bit further my hands will stay dry. The cuff design seems quite good at stopping water from wicking back up your arms. The detachable high collar worked really well too.

The outer pockets got a little damp in the bottom, not too bad, the inner pocket was dry as.

I checked around the inside of the zip where the waterproof outer attaches & there wasn't any sign of leakage there. An advantage of having the waterproof bit on the outside rather than built into the jacket is that less of the jacket gets wet & it dries quickly.

Of course having a dry jacket highlights the fact that the damp crotch I was getting in the rain has progressed into a full on wet arse & I need new pants now too!

Cheers
Clint